Saturday, May 15, 2010

Take one part Essence of San Francisco and one part Essence of Norway and you get:

Norway Days Festival in San Francisco! This photo of the Bridge was taken from the dock at Fort Mason outside the festival. A lovely day. Not sure which was more blue, the sky or the water. A great weekend in the city!

This year due to its popularity, the festival is housed in the larger of the halls at Fort Mason.

Keith, wearing his Slooper t-shirt is ready to enter through this portal fashioned after a famous bridge in Trondheim and find some old friends. We didn't come last year, so it's been two years since he's seen them.

Well, here they are in the genealogy booth. Are we surprised?Blaine Hedberg, a good friend and a man of substantial expertise, from Madison Wisconsin represents Norwegian-American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library. He often comes to the festival and helps interested people research their family trees.

This year a contest in Norway sponsored by readers of Norsk Ukeblad (a magazine) resulted in people all across Norway voting via text message, and choosing Aidi Kongo and Torstein Mikal Bratland to win an all-expense paid trip to San Francisco to be wed at the Norway Day Festival on Sunday, May 2. And icing on the cake -- 5 day's honeymoon in Hawaii.

The traditional procession in Norway is through the town, so here it is through the exhibit hall.

They wore their traditional bunad (regional costume). The bride and groom are from the same region as Keith's ancestors i.e., Rogaland. The ceremony was conducted by the pastor of the San Francisco Seaman's Church and was all in Norwegian, so it did indeed sound official.

Julane Lund provided some exquisite Hardanger fiddling. A classically trained violinist with several degrees in Traditional Music, she was influenced by her grandfather's fiddling, and she moved to Telemark, Norway in 2001. Through the Institute for Folk Culture at Telemark University College, Julane was immersed in the traditional fiddling styles of both Hardanger fiddle and regular fiddle.

Marina Inn Hotel, on the corner of Lombard and Octavia provided very adequate lodging and featured a perfect location for walking just a few blocks to Fort Mason and the festival. We were extremely fortunate to find street parking slots really close both last time and this time, but one certainly can't count on it. We also enjoyed the restaurants on Clay Street just one block north. But our favorite Thai restaurant is on Lombard. The fare if not the prices seemed authentic to us.

Just a little photo of the waterfront near the Fort Mason hall (formerly a shipping warehouse.) An old encrusted chain recalls ship mooring of the past. I thought the textures and colors were interesting.